Love Conquers All
by FayeValentine00
Summary: During the summer before their 6th year, Hermione is worried sick about Harry. He'd never quite recovered from Sirius's death and she decides that it's up to her to snap Harry out of his depression. Written from Hermione's POV. H/Hr
1. Chapter 1

Love Conquers All 

By: FayeValentine00 

Chapter 1 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

_Dear Harry, _

I haven't heard from you all summer and I was hoping that maybe you'd be able to visit one of these days. I really think that we should talk. I don't really care what we talk about, honest. Just send me a note to let me know you are okay. Please? 

Hermione 

I sighed as I sealed the letter and sent it off with the barn owl I was renting for the summer vacation. This was the 4th letter I'd sent Harry in the last 2 months and he never replied. Saying I'd become worried would be the understatment of the year. 

Sirius died just days before the end of the school year and Harry had never recovered. He'd carry on general conversation but if anything serious even threatened to come up, Harry'd thought of some excuse and then ran off. In reality I knew that there was very little I could do to ease the loss of Sirius but I wasn't about to just sit by and watch Harry crawl a little deeper inside himself a each day. 

"Hermione, are you okay?" Mom's voice pulled me out of my thoughts and when I looked up at her, I tried to conjure up the best smile I could. 

"I'm fine. Just worried about my O.W.L.S." 

"I'm sure they'll be here anyday. Just relax, okay? You've been upset ever since you came home." 

"Alright." 

Once Mom left the room with one last worried glance, I realized that I couldn't wait for Harry's responce. I had to call him at Privet Drive or I'd go mad. It took about 20 minutes to locate the number but once I did, I locked the bedroom door and settled onto my bed, staring at the cordless phone receiver. 

"Please be home." I whispered to myself as I dialed the number slowly. 

"Hello?" A womanly voice answered the phone and for a brief moment Hermione had second thoughts. "Hello? Are you there?" 

"Oh, yes. Sorry about that. May I please speak to Harry?" 

There was a long silence on the other end before the woman voice came over the line again but this time her tone was much harsher. "Who is this?!" 

"Hermione Granger. Harry and I are classmates and I need to get some homework from him, if that's okay." 

It took everything in me to be polite to the woman that'd made my best friends life a living hell but I also knew that if I said what was on the dip of my tongue, I'd never get to speak to Harry. 

"Wait." 

There was a very long silence and I'd began to wonder if the phone had simply been forgotten. I was just about to hang up when a voice I barely recognized came on the line. 

"Hello?" 

"Harry? Is that you?" 

"Hi Hermione." 

A chill ran down my spine. His voice sounded so hollow. There was no emotion at all. Just a dull, monotone voice. 

"Hi. I was just calling because you never wrote me back. I was worried." 

"Don't worry. Everything is fine." 

"No it's not, Harry." 

"Look, I don't realy want to talk about this right now so-" 

"Harry, WAIT!" Pain flooded my mind when I realized that Harry was just moments away from hanging up on me. "Can we meet for lunch?" 

"What?" 

"Lunch. Lets go have lunch tommorrow. We can even go to a muggle place so no one bothers us." 

"I don't want to talk, Hermione." He sounded like a stranger. 

"Please, Harry. You don't have to say a word, I swear. I just want to see you. Please?" 

My plead was followed by yet another extremely long silence until he finally gave me the one word answer that I'd been praying for. 

"Fine." 

We made plans to meet the next day at a small cafe in London and then said quick goodbyes. I hung up the phone with two strong emotions pulling painfully at my heart. One part of me was excited because I was going to be able to see Harry again. The other part of me was worried. Harry'd sounded worse then I'd ever remembered hearing him before and it made me wonder if I'd be able to do anything to break the spell that held him so deeply within himself. 

The next morning I woke up and got dressed. Realizing I was nearly two hours earlier, I decided to try to do something about my bushy hair. By the time I finished and stood looking in the mirror, I couldn't help but sigh. 

_Hermione, what the hell are you thinking?_

Somewhere along the line of getting ready, I'd completely gone over board. I used the same product in my hair that'd I used at the ball in our 4th year. I'd decided to use a bit of makeup and I'd even opted for the most recent muggle fashion. I was wearing black jeans and a red baby-tee. Althought I really liked the way I looked, I suddenly realized that Harry would think I was being odd. 

"Mom! I'm leaving." I tried to run out the door before she saw me but her voice sent me walking back into the kitchen. 

"Hold on, Hermione. Come in here for a minute." 

I walked in to the kitchen and she looked at me with obvious surprise on her face. "You look nice. Where are you going?" 

"I'm meeting Harry at a cafe in London. We haven't seen each other all summer." 

Mom looked at me a long time with an expression that I wouldn't understand for a long time but finally she nodded. "Alright. Have fun and be safe." 

I rode the subway all the way to London and made my way towards the cafe where Harry and I had agreed to meet. I saw him waiting for me at the end of the street I'd turned down and had to hold back the shock at what I saw. 

Harry looked awful. His hair was messier then usual. His clothes looked crumbled and the large bags under his eyes immediately told me that he was not getting enough rest. I had to take a deep breath before marching down the street and walking right up to Harry who was now nearly 10 inches taller then me. 

"Good morning, Harry! I'm so glad you could come." I spoke brightly as though neither or us had a care in the world. 

Harry had to do a double take when he turned to me. I guess that was a compliment especially because the fog that seemed to cloud his eyes lifted for a moment when he realized that it really was me standing before him. 


	2. Chapter 2

Love Conquers All 

By: FayeValentine00 

Chapter 2 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Harry had to do a double take when he turned to me. I guess that was a compliment, especially because the fog that seemed to cloud his eyes lifted for a moment when he realized that it really was me standing before him. 

"G-Good morning. I almost didn't recognize you." His voice sounded so cold compared to the usual warmth that'd I'd grown to love over the last nearly 6 years. I felt the urge to wrap my arms tightly around his neck and hug him until the old Harry returned but seeing as I wasn't sure if he'd allow it, I stuck with humor. 

"Do I look that bad?" I couldn't keep the smile off of my face as I did a little turn in front of Harry so he could see the whole outfit. "I must say that I'm glad my mother convinced to buy these clothes. Our robes aren't exactly the most flattering attire, are they?" 

My heart nearly leapt from my chest when I saw a small smile grace Hary's face and when he spoke with a hint of humor in his voice, I nearly cried out of happiness. 

"No, the robes aren't very flattering but you do look great." 

Unable to control myself, I flung myself into his arms. "Oh Harry, I missed you so much and I've been so worried!" 

He stood still for a moment before I felt his arms wrap tightly around my middle. It took every ounce of self control not to start crying but I knew that a crying female was just one more thing that Harry didn't need to deal with. 

"I missed you too, Hermione." 

When we finally stepped apart a few moments later I realized that people in the cafe had begun to stare at us so I took Harry's arm and pulled him inside. 

"What have you been doing this summer?" He posed the question once we'd been seated at a table away from the windows. I assumed he just wanted to keep the questions away from himself so I smiled and complied. 

"Not too much really. I read most of next years text books already and my parents and I took a trip to Scotland a few weeks ago which was really interesting. Oh yeah, and my mom bought me some clothes as you can see." 

"And make-up too," he added with a teasing smile. 

"Fine Harry, and make-up too." I smiled despite my best efforts to glare evily. Harry simply knew me too well not to tease me about suddenly shown up looking completely different. 

We ate slowly while I did my best to keep up a constant conversation of small talk but it was hard because Harry kept retreating back into himself. As I took a sip of my tea, I couldn't help but think that I might never get the Harry back that I'd grown to love and that was unacceptable. 

"Just ask whatever you're thinking so hard about, Hermione. You look miserable." There was a tone of defeat in his voice that I didn't miss so I jumped at the chance to try to help him. 

"How are you doing, Harry?" 

"I'm fine." 

"NO YOU'RE NOT!" My yell sent ever head in the house turned towards our table and I immediatly lowered my voice, feeling guilty. "No. You're not okay. You don't write. You don't call. You look awful." 

"Thanks for the pep talk," his eyes rolled as he spoke. 

"You know what I mean. I miss you, I really do. Dealing with everything that happened last year has been hard for all of us and I know it's been worse for you but please don't go away. I'm so afraid of losing you. It feels like..." I took a moment to blink back my tears and look into Harry's eyes before I continued on. "It feels like you don't even care about us anymore." 

Harry sighed deeply with an unreadable expression on his face and for a moment I feared that he'd completely shut himself off to me but then he spoke. 

"I'm sorry." With his eyes fixed on the napkin in his lap, he continued in a low voice. "I still care. I'm just... I'm just scared, I guess." 

"Scared?" Of all the things that I'd expected to hear out of his mouth, fear was not one of them. 

"Think about it, Hermione. First Cedric and then Sirius. Who's next? I can't just stand by and watch people get killed off one by one." 

I nodded my head in understanding, not quite sure what else to do. My mind was going in every direction but in the end, I spoke from my heart. "It's okay to be scared but don't push us away. Ron and I are your best friends and we'll do anything to help you. You know that, right?" 

"I know," he nodded slightly. "But what happens if you or Ron are the ones to get hurt next. I'd never forgive myself." 

"Don't think about that now. Please!" I reached out and wrapped my hand around his. "Lets just try to get things back to how they were." 

"It's different now." He eyes met mine and held firm. 

"I know it is but we have to try." 

We stared into each others eyes for a long time before he reluctantly nodded his head in agreement and squeezed my hand firmly. "Alright. I'll try. Are you happy now?" 

"Yes. Never happier!" I knew I had a huge grin on my face but thankfully Harry returned the smile as well as he could. 

We finished our lunch and decided to walk around muggle London for a while. Since both of us had grown up in muggle families, muggle things were nothing new but everytime we saw something slightly odd we'd laugh about how Ron would react. As the day wore on, Harry seemed to liven up bit by bit. Before I realized where the day I gone, the sun'd begun to set. 

"I guess I should start heading home." 

"Do you mind if I escort you?" Harry's question stunned me but I found myself nodding anyway. 

We walked most of the way in silence until we reached my block and he took my arm, pulling me to a stop. "I wanted to say thank you for forcing me to meet you today." 

"Force you? I didn't force you." 

The knowing look in his eyes silenced me but then he smiled. "If you hadn't _forced_ me to come then I guess I'd still be sitting at home feeling miserable. I just didn't realize how much I missed you until I saw you." 

"Don't be silly, Harry. It's just the make-up that makes you say that." I started to laugh but when he didn't join in, I realized he was totally serious. 

"I'm not joking. I'm really glad we met for lunch." 

"Well... I'm glad." I found myself nearly speechless at the expression in Harry's eye. I was shocked to find that he was completely serious. 

"Do you want to met again next week?" 

"Y-Yeah. Er, I mean... yes, I'd love to. Ummm... same place and time, then?" 

"Sounds good. See you then." 

Before walking away, Harry bent down and kissed me on the cheek. As he walked away I realized that it was the first time he'd ever done that. Of course I'd kissed him on the cheek before but somehow this entire sitsuation seemed different and as I headed back into my house, I couldn't get the image of Harry out of my mind. 


	3. Chapter 3

Love Conquers All 

By: FayeValentine00 

Chapter 3 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

_I stood in a hallway with doors on either side of me. Somehow I knew that the doors had significant meaning but I wasn't exactly sure what. Deep in my soul I knew that one door would lead me to a bliss that I'd only ever dreamed about but that same part of me also knew that the other door would bring about disaster. I tried to turn around and leave but I was trapped. What I'd thought was a hallway was actually a box and there was no going back the way I'd come. _

"Choose!" A booming voice echoed through the box out of the blue, nearly causing me to jump out of my skin. 

My head was spinning while my eyes darted from one door to the other. They were identical in everyway. There was no way of knowing which way to go. It looked like I was going to have to go on blind luck but that was impossible. There had to be a logical solution to finding the correct door, right? 

I woke up from my bed with a start, sweat dripping from my brow. I had to walk to my bedroom door before I was convinced I'd actually returned to my own room. The dream had been so real, as if I'd really been stuck in the white box. My hands trembled slightly as I made my way down the dark staircase to the kitchen to get a glass of water. 

I stood over the sink, sipping from my glass and trying to clear my mind when I saw a movement in the corner of my eye that caused me to drop my glass which shattered all over the floor. 

"Dobby?! What are you doing here? Why aren't you at Hogwarts?" All the questions flooded from my mouth in quick secession, all the while trying to keep my voice down. I knew the glass breaking must have woken my parents but hearing me scream on top of it would have sent them racing downstairs. 

The house elf looked up at me with a fearful look in his eyes but my fathers voice came down the stairs before Dobby could explain himself. 

"Hermione? Is that you, dear?" 

"Yes, Dad. I just broke a glass. Everythings okay," I responded quickly while praying the entire time that he would not come downstairs. 

"Alright then. Just be careful. Goodnight." 

"Goodnight." 

I waited until I heard the door to my parents bedroom close before I let out a sigh of relief and turned back to Dobby. 

"What in the world are you doing here, Dobby?" 

"Well... ummm..." The house elfs' hands were nervously squeezing one of the hats I'd made in my last semester at Hogwarts. "I came to warn you." 

"Warn me about what?" I stood staring at him for a long time before memories of Dobby's "protection" of Harry in our second year flooded my mind. "Oh Dobby, please don't tell me that I'm in danger. I don't think Harry'd want you protecting me, do you?" 

"No, Hermione Granger misunderstands Dobby. It's not really danger that Dobby came to warn you about. I heard some wizards at the school speaking about you. They said that there is some kind of link between Harry Potter and Harmione Granger. It is something that will effect the final battle with He-who-must-not-be-named." 

"What?!" Maybe it was the lack of sleep or simply the fact that whatever Dobby was saying made no sense but I found myself lacking patience. "You aren't making any sense, Dobby. Besides, I saw Harry yesturday and it sounds like he is going to be doing loads better in the future. He agreed not to push Ron and I away anymore so everything is going to be fine." 

"No, you do not understand! Dobby heard that Hermione Granger was very smart but you can't even understand this." He flashed me a glare that looked very much as though he was personally insulted that my wits had not lived up to expectations. 

"Dobby, listen to me. Harry and I are just friends and I am going to fight next to him no matter what Voldemort tries to do to him but we are just friends. If you mean our friendship has something to do with that then you're correct because I don't understand." 

"No Hermione, It is more then friendship. The wizards said that there is to be some sort of choice. A choice that will decide the out come of the prophecy." 

"A choice? The prophecy?!" My head was spinning but slowly things began to fall into place and I grabbed Dobby by the shirt, lifting him off his feet and throwing all my S.P.E.W. principals out the window. "But I thought the prophecy broke, Dobby. No one heard it, right Dobby?!" 

"Now, Hermione Granger. Do not get mad at Dobby, he is just coming to warn you." He put his hands up as if he was afraid I would hit him but that was the furthest thing from my mind. All I wanted was answers. 

"What did you mean by the prophecy?!" Anger began to burn in my gut as I waiting for a responce from the creature I held nearly nose to nose with myself. 

"D-Dobby heard Dumbledore telling Harry Potter what was said in the prophecy at the end of last year but now I know that Professor Dumbledore did not tell Harry everything." 

"What did it say, Dobby?!" 

"I can't say. Dumbledore made me swear but I knew I had to tell you the other part." 

"Oh god." Without thinking, I dropped Dobby and ran to my room, throwing on the first clothes I found. I scribbled a quick note to my parents and ran out the door without a second thought of Dobby. 

_Dammit! Why didn't he tell me?! What did the prophecy say that was so terrible that he couldn't tell Ron and I?! We were his best friends for god sakes! And that dream! What the hell did that dream mean and what did Dobby mean about a choice I'd have to make that would determine everything. That was crazy._

Without realizing the consequences of my actions, I made my way to the subway heading to Little Whinging. I didn't know what I'd do or say when I got face to face with Harry but I was going to get to the bottom of this if it was the last thing I ever did! 

When I finally stepped off the train several hours later, the sunlight was just beginning to grace the horizion and any other day I would have thought that it was gorgeous but right at that moment, I barely noticed. While still inside the train I'd managed to comb my hair and make myself a bit more presentable so when Harry's muggle family saw me, they wouldn't slam the door in my face. 

Not quite sure where to go, I asked for directions to Privet Drive and began what was a nearly 3 mile walk. At least it would give the sun a bit more time to rise before I demanded to speak to Harry first thing in the morning. I couldn't help but notice as I walked into Harry neighborhood, that every house was identical and that they all had perfect lawns. No wonder Harry hated this place, even aside from his awful family, these people's homes were dreadfully dull. 

Just as I rounded the corner to Privet Drive I heard a familiar sound above my head and looked up to see Hedwig flying nearby. At my signal, she landed on my shoulder with a nibble on my ear to let me know that she was happy to see me. Even though I had no food to give her, she stayed on my shoulder until I reached the house. 

"Hedwig, can you go wake Harry for me?" 

She clucked her beak as though she understood before flying through what I assumed was Harry's bedroom and moments later I heard the voice I knew all too well. 

"Get off you crazy bird! What do you want?!" The sounds of struggle went on for quite a long time before I finally heard Harry give up. "FINE! I'm awake! What do you want?!" 

Durning the whole struggle that came from the upstairs window, I'd found it hard not to laugh but when I saw Hedwig hop up onto the window ledge I forced a serious look back onto my face. Moments later I saw Harry's face pop out the window and I nearly laughed all over again. His hair flew in every direction, he had scratches that I assumed Hedwig had just created and a very grumpy look on his face. 

It took him a moment before he saw me and at first I thought he fall out the window in shock, thankfully he didn't. "What are you doing here?" 

"Get down here, Harry Potter! We need to talk, now!" It took everything in me not to scream at him but I figured that waking all the neighbors wouldn't have helped anything either. 

"What?" The obvious confusion on his face would have been comical had my anger not come back to me full force. 

"Hurry!" 

He leveled a confused look at me one last time before his shoulders slumped in defeat when he realized I wasn't leaving till we spoke. "Fine. Be right down." 

I paced the manicured grass for almost 10 minutes before the front door opened and Harry stepped out with the same look of confusion that he'd shown earlier. "Now what is it that couldn't wait?" 

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Harry Potter!" 


End file.
